research project

It seems we all had the same experience, quite why it was so difficult I don't know - perhaps we need more training than we imagined! It sure stopped the blogging in its tracks.

Research Project

Hi Guys

Well, the research project is finally completed and I sent mine this morning - whew, this really drained me out but am so glad its all over now. I think it was a great experience and even though I have worked and published two articles in collaboration with my colleagues, working alone was something different but a great experience. Hope you guys are all doing just fine. Now its time to work on our reportback and we are hoping to workshop it sometime in Nov......

Research Project

Research project

At last, I submitted my research project this morning. I anticipate some empty hours when I go home this afternoon. The project has been part of us long before the Academy. a bit like Bryson with a difference. I struggled to get started. One of my lecturers told me that it gets easier with time, so he is really telling me not to stop writing. What next? I don't know yet of course it will be easier not to write against date or time which makes a difference.
Maryna

Writing in a digital age

Hi
A lecturer sent me this piece from a blog about what the electronic environment and all the communication options have done to our writing; its of significance in terms of how people view and do writing and the challenges to academic writing. Makes for an interesting read

Rose

Young librarians view of the digital library

Thought you might find this interesting (from the Chronicle of higher education)


SPEAKING UP IN THE LIBRARY: Eight young librarians ponder
aloud the big questions faced by their profession.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i08/08a02801.htm
* AUDIO INTERVIEW: Hear an interview with Jessamyn C. West, of
Librarian.net, on what libraries and librarians are doing
right and what they are doing wrong as they adapt to a digital
age.
http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v54/i08/west/

Facebook and Libraries

I came across this presention by Gerry McKiernan - interesting ideas - but who has the time, and of course there are the bandwidth issues in this country?

In Your Face(book): Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library
Services [ http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gerrymck/LITANationalForum2007.ppt ]

R is for.......

Rugby!!! A nice respite from research papers was yesterday's match and into a final we go! Thank heavens the final is a week before our papers deadline

Reports and research papers

Hi Eileen,
I'm glad we're not the only ones in a flat spin about these reports and research papers. We (UKZN)have found it very difficult to collate everything we experienced - we have reported back to our director but are only going to have a 'workshop' for our subject librarian colleagues in mid Nov. as we are going to try and workshop it rather than just have a report back so we have something to move forward with. Even the two page evaluation was difficult. Its all a warm fuzzy mash. My own ideas about the research paper have also changed, so here we are, two weeks to go and not much done! We never did get a list of everyone's topics did we? Perhaps we can ask for this after they are all handed in. Do you suppose an Academy panic attack is permitted? Working through the 'to do' list following on from the Academy is very time consuming too.

Rose

Academy reports

Anne and I, as I guess with all of you, have had to put in reports about the Academy. I found it very difficult to condense all that we experienced into a two page report, but it did force me to focus my thoughts and pull out the salient points. It was a useful exercise overall.

I wonder how you are all progressing with the Topic Reports due on the 26th? This is a real challenge.

Good luck
Eileen

Documents on Research Libraries

In the discussion on the handout, The University of Texas: Looking Forward Research Libraries in the 21st Century, given by Renfrew Christie , it was agreed you would get more references on research libraries of the 21st Century. Please see NYU 21st Century Library Project; Researchers’ Use of Academic Libraries and their Services ; and The Peloponnesian War and the Future of Reference, Cataloging, and Scholarship in Research Libraries.

I should have posted this earlier. Please accept my apologies - I was still trying to unpack!

Ready for evaluation

Dear Research Librarian Bloggers,

I hope that you have all managed to recover some of the energy expended during the Academy and gotten back into the swing of things, ready to write your 2-page evaluation. I know I am. This week has been a good amount of time over which to reflect on the activities of the Academy, and to develop a new-found appreciation and admiration for the research activities of the university. Us UCT attendees have even decided to start attending new professors' inaugural lectures as a way of familiarising ourselves with research endeavours at the university.

The blog is going well and I am benefitting from the contributions. I hope to add some resources of my own soon.

Until then...
Take care!

A week later!

Hi, all,
I can't believe that a week is already gone by since we left our mountain hideaway! What a week it has been with Wits students toy-toying against a proposed rise in fees. Up in Management Library, I'm away from the worst of it but it did cut short our one meeting that all the Academy Witsies had together with the rest of the Carnegie Team. We all had to give 5 minute presentations on the highlights of the two weeks. There was time for that but never got to see the photo's or to discuss where to from here. The presentations brought it all back which highlights the need for us to have regular meetings with our group, as being back it is too easy to get bogged down by work.
Take care
Hilbre

Facebook

In my quest to determine the nature of blogs and facebook I found one of those useless bits of information - about Facebook. This appeared in the New York Observer of 1 October this year. A study in the UK reveals that facebook is costly for business and the cost to firms for facebooking during working hours is estimated at over US$260 million per day. One firm tried to ban facebook but changed their minds in the face of an employee revolt. Lawyers in the USA are apparently particularly enamoured with facebook; helps them vent their daily frustrations!

Rose

Research libraries and librarians

Hi all
Linda beat me to the post - I have also just found the ASERL competencies for research librarians. I have looked at 4 documents - these ASERL competencies; the Texas docuemnt given to us by Renfrew Chrisite as well as his presentation and Karin's presentation on what researchers want. I collated the information and drew up a 2 page list of what this research animal looks like. It seems there are 3 broad areas of skills / knowledge and attributes: knowledge about the research process and information resources; broader endeavours of the institution and information society and finally personal attributes. Its quite a powerful and challenging list. The documents also usefully sumamrise challenges to and nature of the research library - I havent quite collated that yet. These 4 documents together really provide a useful and concrete base from which to plan an upgrade of ourselves.

Rose

Tuesday in the office

Hi Everyone

It was nice meeting you all, such a good experience. I started my work on Tuesday
and felt like I'm in a new place, unable to think about where to start with my backlog.My brain is still unpacking and packing everything learned and experienced.
Please lets keep the ball rolling and looking forward to share ideas with you all

Linda

Competencies for research librarians

Hi Guys

I came across this important information and felt I should share this with you. To read more and get bibligraphy check the http://www.aserl.org/statements/competencies/competencies.htm


Competencies for research librarians
Attributes of the successful research librarian include intellectual curiosity, flexibility, adaptability, persistence, and the ability to be enterprising. Research librarians possess excellent communication skills. They are committed to life-long learning and personal career development.

1. The research librarian develops and manages effective services that meet user needs and support the research library's mission.

Provides excellent service, customized to meet the needs of individual users


Is knowledgeable about technology (theoretical and skills-based) and applies it to improve services


Anticipates user needs and critically evaluates and assesses existing and new services and systems to ensure that user needs are met


Is innovative, seeking out and acting upon new opportunities and challenges


Plans, prioritizes and organizes work in order to focus on what is critical


Participates in and applies strategic planning


Is able to adapt business approaches to library operations to ensure accountability and the wise use of limited resources


Communicates effectively with others outside of the library
2. The research librarian supports cooperation and collaboration to enhance service.

Is able to work effectively with diverse groups, creating an environment of mutual respect


Forms and maintains partnerships both within and outside of the university community


Seeks opportunities to share expertise and knowledge


Works effectively as part of a team


Provides leadership
3. The research librarian understands the library within the context of higher education (its purpose and goals) and the needs of students, faculty, and researchers.

Understands teaching, learning, and research, and seeks to provide services that will enhance these endeavors


Is able to help users learn


Is an advocate for the library and the university


Is able to communicate the importance of library services to the higher education community


Serves as an effective member of the university


Is an expert consultant to the university on information


Participates in and supports fund-raising efforts on behalf of the university

4. The research librarian knows the structure, organization, creation, management, dissemination, use, and preservation of information resources, new and existing, in all formats.

Often has specialized subject knowledge to support collection development within the library and research and teaching within the university


Understands how information and the research library support and enhance scholarly communication


Understands the implications of information policy, including laws regarding copyright, licensing, and intellectual property


Is able to critically evaluate and assess existing and new information resources in relation to user needs


Describes and translates intellectual resources in a way that is useful to others
5. The research librarian demonstrates commitment to the values and principles of librarianship.

Connects people to ideas


Provides free and open access to information


Demonstrates commitment to literacy and learning


Shows respect for individuality and diversity


Supports freedom for all people to form, hold, and express their own beliefs


Preserves the human record


Provides excellence in service


Forms partnerships to advance these values

Conclusion
Research libraries are key partners in higher education, critical to the ability of universities to succeed in teaching and research. Research libraries will also continue to be important sources for the support and promotion of new developments in librarianship. Changes in the library environment, such as technological innovations and legal limitations on the use of information, will continue to offer opportunities for research librarians to gain and apply new knowledge. At the same time, the expertise that librarians have developed in organizing, providing access to, and preserving information will become more important than ever. The research librarian of the future will have more opportunities to support learning, enhance teaching, and improve research, providing services to the users of today as well as anticipating the needs of the users of tomorrow.


Linda Mbonambi

The power of the blog

I came across an interesting snippet yesterday about the status blogs can have when done properly and that increasingly in American court cases blogs are being quoted as sources of authoritative information.

Rose

Academic Library and Research in the Twenty-First Century: Linking Practice and Research

Hi everyone
Hope you are all settling down after our stimulating 2 weeks at Mont Fleur.

This editorial doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2007.06.003 in the latest issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship offers some interesting insights on topics for research in academic libraries.

The 3 areas highlighted for research are: Making sense of library statistics, Assessing the success of library instruction and information literacy programs and Reclaiming tools ("Librarians need to actively and assertively engage in research to determine the true effectiveness and efficiency of library tools and to create the designs that will return control of library tools to the profession rather than allowing such control to continue exclusively in the hands of vendors.")

There's a challenge for us all!
Bye
Eileen

Just checking on you all!

Dear Colleagues

Hi, I travelled well to Johannesburg, and "Jo" it was great to be home! At the same time it I felt a little bit sad, to have been separated from my new-found family. How are you getting on? I hope you have all settled back into your daily responsibilities and preparing yourselves for the new or upgraded initiative in terms of relating to our researchers.
Good luck to you all and may the spirit of the Academy stay with us!

Cheers and chat some more

Nomasonto

The Monday after the Academy

I returned to my Engineering library, it looked the same, but it was different, I was different, and I suddenly felt very lonely. But I also remember that there are now 20 of us in the system and one way or the other our partnership will show. Maybe not today, it will take time.
Maryna

Publishing research in LIS journals

I came across this article and thought it might be useful for our publishing project:

Publishing research in LIS journals. By: Shenton, Andrew K.. Education for Information, 2005, Vol. 23 Issue 3, p141-163, 23p, 1 chart Abstract: In contrast to the considerable coverage of research methods and report writing, relatively little attention has been given in the professional literature to the steps that should be taken and issues which may be borne in mind by a researcher seeking to have his or her work published. By addressing ten broad questions reflecting common concerns, this paper is designed to give a beginner guidance in his or her efforts to publish research in Library and Information Science journals. It deals with such matters as the benefits to be gained from having one's work disseminated in this way, factors that the researcher may wish to consider in determining a journal to target, matters of ethics and etiquette associated with publishing, the structure that may be employed within a paper and the criteria typically used by editors and reviewers when assessing submissions. A sequenced list of significant stages within the publication process and principles for good practice are also presented. The paper concludes with consideration of the qualities and skills that the published author may be expected to demonstrate and isolates instances in which they are applied.

Persistent link:

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=17809626&site=ehost-live

Good luck
Eileen Shepherd

How is your library helping researchers evaluate their performance?

A very topical article for us at
http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcn/0503/lcn050308.html

I was particularly interested in the idea from Universität Wien Bibliotheks und Archivwesen about establishing a bibliometrics group.

Regards,
Caroline

P.S. I hope the first day back at work isn't too much of a strain.